Beijing's Generating Real Air Pollution, Not Just Food for its Vegetation (CO2)

Peace & Freedom Blog just posted a story about the escalating pollution in Beijing as 888 (August 8. 2008) approaches. Here is an excerpt from Olympics: Air Pollution Reduction Measures Are In Place But (OOPS!) Pollution Is Increasing:

Some Olympic-class runners here for training are heading for home. One told our Hongli Jia, “I would love to have a gold medal. But in this I cannot perform.”

“I wouldn’t expect a world record in the marathon in Beijing,” says Marco Cardinale, a doctor who advises the British Olympic Committee. “The issue isn’t just air quality, but the combination of heat, humidity and bad air.”

Many athletes didn’t come to Beijing to train because of the bad air.

“There is no other reason but to stay out of the pollution. It’s definitely to avoid the air,” said Reed, who if he qualifies will be training with the other U.S. triathletes on South Korea’s Cheju island. “This air [in Beijing] is just so terrible for your body.”

Here is some of the Washington Post’s report by Maureen Fan in Beijing:

While uncontrollable factors such as the weather have worked against the city, many problems are entirely man-made. The largest contributing factor to Beijing’s air pollution is vehicle emissions, Du has said in the past. Thanks to growing public demand and friendly government policies toward car manufacturers, Beijing adds more than 1,000 cars to its streets every day.

Despite the new figures, Du argued that the capital’s air quality was actually better compared with the same period last year because the concentrations of major pollutants — such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide — were reportedly down 20 percent.

Beijing does not make public data on two of the most dangerous pollutants that can harm the respiratory system — ozone and fine particulate matter. The latter has been found to enter the bloodstream and cause heart attacks and strokes in sensitive individuals.

In a last-minute push to help clear the skies, the government imposed a series of Olympic-related restrictions that kicked in Sunday.

In addition to mandating alternate-day driving based on odd and even license plate numbers — which is supposed to remove 45 percent of the city’s 3.3 million cars from the streets — Beijing opened Olympic traffic lanes, stopped all but essential truck traffic, staggered work hours, added 2,000 buses, beefed up subway service and halted all construction work involving earth, stone and concrete.

Since Sunday, the city’s air pollution index readings have been 55, 65, 67, 89, 113 and 110. Last Aug. 8, a year before next month’s opening ceremony, Beijing’s air pollution index was 88.

No wonder the Communist Chinese are not much concerned about carbon emissions, they have literally tons and tons of particulate pollution and ozone to deal with. These are real pollutants that may not warm the planet but threaten to bring millions of Chinese and others to room temperature prematurely.

The KMT and the Greening of Taiwan

The China Post story below about Taiwan's left leaning "energy" policies (more like "environmental" policies) shows that the Kuomintang (KMT) is anything but politically conservative in our way of thinking. I think the reason these policies appeal to the Chinese Nationalist mindset is that the Nationalist have always and forever been about State Socialism. They have always wanted to control the means of production and consumption. This has allowed them to have gang like control over the island entrenching themselves through corruption and thereby becoming the richest political party in the free world. ("The Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) - Until 1986, Taiwan's political system was effectively controlled by one party, the KMT, the leader of which also was the ROC president. Many top political officials were members of the party. The party claimed over 2 million members, and its net assets were reputed to total more than NT $61.2 billion, making it the richest political party in the world.")

Prior to 2000, when power was transferred to the Taiwanese by democratic election for the first time in history (the 1st democratization milestone was the 1996 Presidential election), the KMT could exert this control with impunity in part because the political right in the United States viewed it/Taiwan as a stop gap against the Communist Chinese. The United States providing moral support to the Nationalists in "the eventual" taking back of China from the Communists (it wasn't until 1991 that the KMT claim to rule all of China was dropped). As a result, many Republicans have viewed the KMT as a fellow right wing party rather as the center left socialist party in seems to be today, and indeed has always been. Preceded in expression of devotion to the Mainland by KMT Party member and loosing 2004 Presidential candidate Lien Chan (a real sore looser) and People First Party (PFP) candidate James Soong, Taiwan's new president, Harvard Graduate (and US green card holder) Ma Ying-jeou promised his dying father, as evidenced by the engraving on his father's urn, that he would work toward eventual reunification of Taiwan and China (as if they has ever been unified in the first place).

Similarly Ma's economic vision is far from that of conservative Republicans. So it seems apropos that the Premier in Ma's administration would reveal an energy "policy" which tracks with that of the left in the United States. Touted as "a concrete plan for slashing carbon emissions within a period of four years," it includes bike paths and strong encouragement for people to use bicycles, more efficient but hazardous fluorescent light bulbs, conversion of vehicles to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and quotas/deadlines for moving to alternative energy sources. (The LED traffic signals are, however, a nice addition.) Prominent in its omission from Ma's "energy" policy are any plans to boost the real supply of energy. But since the policy is to slash carbon emissions I suppose they can increase the non-carbon-emitting energy supply, right? Good luck, Ma!

Somehow when you cross the seas right becomes left, and left becomes right. For just as the KMT Party does not seem like the political right to us (though considered the political right in Taiwan), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) identifies itself as liberal and yet holds to many core ideals Republican's adhere to. With a few exceptions, the platform of the DPP fits well within that of the Republican Party of Texas, while the KMT does not have a platform but rather takes policy positions base on white papers from it's leaders. The KMT is not a grass roots political party. The DPP is much less centralized, much less authoritarian, thus more like the Republican Party of Texas.

Premier issues energy policies

Saturday, July 26, 2008
The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Premier Liu Chao-shiuan announced a concrete plan for slashing carbon emissions within a period of four years in accordance with the sustainable development policies of President Ma Ying-jeou.

Liu said yesterday that all traffic signals across Taiwan will be replaced with LED lights in three years.

Power-saving bulbs in all homes and water heaters running on solar energy for 140,000 households will be installed in four years.

As many as 100,000 of the island's taxis will be running on cleaner-burning liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in four years.

These were among the major action plans worked out by Liu and senior Cabinet officials at a meeting to review the administrative work for the past two months and map out new strategies for the coming months and years.

Liu said the measures will be implemented to realize the green revolution promised by President Ma and Vice President Vincent Siew in their election campaign pledges to conserve energy and safeguard the environment while achieving long-term and sustainable economic development. On World Environment Day on June 5, President Ma reaffirmed that the government's future policies would not only focus on economic growth but also on social welfare and sustainability.

LED traffic signals

One of the major initiatives is to replace all bulbs in traffic lights to LED (light-emitting diode) lights within three years.

Taiwan is one of the world's top suppliers of LED products, including the light panels used by TV sets and computers.

In three years, Taiwan will rank along with Singapore as one of the most advanced areas in terms of utilizing LED systems for traffic control, Liu said.

Power-saving bulbs

Liu and other government officials believe overhauling Taiwan's lighting system will pay big dividends in electricity savings.

The move was in line with a decision by many advanced countries to end the sale and use of incandescent bulbs by 2012.

The government already implemented a plan to give discounts on electricity bills for families that exert efforts to limit power consumption to less than the previous year.

According to Yeh Huey-ching, the director-general of the Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the policy aims to gradually eliminate the use of conventional light bulbs in Taiwan, where about 22 million incandescent bulbs are consumed per year.

Solar-power heaters

Liu said the government will encourage the installation of solar-powered water heaters at a rate of 35,000 sets each year to bring the total to 140,000 in four years.

Taiwan now ranks among world leaders in the development and production of solar-energy equipment and materials, including the solar batteries and panels.

However, most of the products are exported to overseas market every year while not many local residents on the island are able to share the benefits.

With its advanced technology and geographic position with constant exposures to the sun, Taiwan is in the best position to tap solar energy.

LPG taxis

The government has been remodeling vehicles at public offices and public transport systems to use clean LPG or biodiesel processed from waste cooking oil.

Converting all taxis in Taiwan into LPG vehicles is another major step to reduce carbon emissions.

Premier Liu set out a target to build more LPG refueling stations and converting all taxis running on Taiwan roads and streets in four years.

Other changes

Concerning other initiatives concerning the transformation of living environment and transport services, Liu's Cabinet will expand bicycle paths islandwide and build up public transportation networks in the rural regions.

Government agencies will also increase the number of rechargeable electric motorcycles to 100,000 islandwide.

In addition to beefing up research and development fund for developing renewable energy resources, Liu said the government will boost the special loans to NT$50 billion from NT$10 billion to help enterprises modernize their manufacturing facilities.

The building code will be revised to encourage the construction of "green buildings."

Responses

Environmentalists welcomed in general the new measures, but wanted more details.

Huang Sifon, director of an association promoting green transportation, said that the premier needed to explain what kind of bike paths he plans to build.

"What people need is to use the bicycle as a real means of transportation -- which can really make our transportation greener -- and not just as a recreational device that people enjoy in the evening on the riverside," she said, hoping that the bike paths will be set up for commuters.

"It is a good thing that the government will help convert taxis into LPG vehicles," said Pan Han-shen, secretary-general of the Green Party Taiwan, although other problems need to be solved for the new measure to have maximum impact.

He argued that there are too many taxis in Taiwan, and empty taxis running all day leads to a serious waste of energy.

According to the Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control under the Environmental Protection Administration, 14,702 of a total of 89,215 taxis in Taiwan have already converted to LPG systems as of the end of June this year.

Copyright © 2008 The China Post.

Taiwan's New President has China Fixation Disorder (like so many)

Copied below is an essay by a fellow "son-in-law of Taiwan" about the apparent ineptness of the Taiwan's new (KMT) President and his "One China fixes all" approach to guiding Taiwan's economy and its warming relationship with the Peoples Republic of China.

To understand Dr. Keating's article better you need to know that in Mandarin, "Ma" means, or sounds like the pronunciation of the Chinese character for, horse.

Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s One Trick Pony

by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

While his cabinet continues making mistake after mistake in governing Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou appears to be the proverbial one trick pony and have only one thing on his mind. Elected on his promises that he would send Taiwan’s economy soaring, Ma’s only solution and hope is to continue to keep repeating his mantra, “run to China.” Life however, is not that simple.

When he was running for the presidency, Ma ignored the plight of the world’s economy and focused only on the fact that Taiwan’s growth did not match China’s inflated numbers. Ma’s simple answer of course was to blame it all on the out-going Chen Shui-bian. Things would be different once he was elected. He would lead Taiwan to the Economic Promised Land and China was his solution. Now that he is president and Taiwan’s economy is worse, Ma’s answer is, “it’s a global problem, but we still need to go to China.”

Life as was said is not that simple and perhaps the only thing that is constant however is change. Ma should have had some sense of that when, in hopes of progress, he had filled his cabinet with yesterday’s so-called experts. Unfortunately yesterday’s solutions do not necessarily fit today’s problems. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) which has always controlled Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, had not held the presidency for the last eight years and in those eight years a lot had happened. Both Taiwan and the world had changed a lot. This should have been his first awakening.

The KMT had always touted itself that it knew how to handle the economy. It was the reputed “A team” as far as Taiwan and the world was concerned. So enter then Ma’s specialists of eight years ago. Yiin Chii-ming, the KMT Minister of Economic Affairs boasted that now that they were in, the TAIEX, which had reached 9,309 when the KMT took office on May 20 would soon be breaking the 20,000 mark. Not so, at last count the TAIEX was 7,051 and heading south.

Not to worry, there were still the tourists from China to solve the problem and Ma rushed headlong to that solution. Taiwan was supposed to get 3000 a day, but China has only allowed 1000 a day. And for July 18, so far, no one has applied to come. So, thus far, the only visible result from Ma’s action of opening Taiwan to Chinese tourists on July 4th is that they have been jumping ship and disappearing at the rate of one a day. But Ma, the one trick pony, is not discouraged; he keeps insisting the only real solution is “run to China.”.

Yesterday’s answers don’t always fit today’s problems. Taiwan has been one of the major investors in China, but focusing on more investment does not appear to be the panacea that Ma hopes for. The rest of the world has already begun to discover the many pitfalls of dealing with China, its laws and copyright violations. This is more than the fact that China keeps producing tainted products toys, tooth paste, pet food etc. and more than the fact that China (Taiwan’s western neighbor) is leading the world in pollution. Unfortunately for Taiwan, the wind patterns blow east. Still the one trick pony keeps saying “run to China,” for it is not Taiwan’s reputation that he is most concerned about but his own. Will China be Ma’s savior? It may be too early to tell, but never has a fly been more easily enticed into the spider’s parlor. Ma does not seem to have a Plan B.


Other writings can be found at http://zen.sandiego.edu:8080/Jerome

The New Kuomintang (KMT) of Taiwan - Big Goverment Liberals

As conservative Republicans we rightly complain about the excesses of big government liberals, whether they be Democrat or Republican. But the Obama of Taiwan (President Ma Ying-jeou) and his Kuomintang Mandarins are set to make American liberals look like members of the Grace Commission's Citizens Against Government Waste and Ron Paul activists, by comparison.

Government to boost middle class: Liu

LEGISLATIVE REPORT: The premier briefed lawmakers on his agenda, but not until apologizing for the surprise fuel price hike announcement

By Flora Wang
Taipei Times STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, May 31, 2008, Page 3

Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) yesterday promised to recreate a solid middle class by boosting the econo “Taiwan was renowned for its ‘economic miracle’ in the past. Back then, the economy was vibrant. Taiwan’s wealth was said to be ankle deep, while people had numerous opportunities to become rich,” Liu said in his first administrative report to the legislature.

“The solid middle class became the force to stabilize the society, but over the past several years, the suicide and unemployment rates hit a new high while the gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen,” he said.

So the Cabinet’s main goal was to recreate the prosperity of the middle class by reviving the economy and reducing the unemployment rate so that many people will be able to increase their income, he said.

Liu said he expected the Cabinet to prioritize financial issues in the face of keen international competition as well as take care of other aspect of people’s lives.

Click here to read the full article.

Predidential Candidate Tom Tancredo on 'One China'

Changing course on 'one China'

By Tom Tancredo

Friday, Dec 14, 2007, Page 8

BY NOW, EVERYONE has heard about the Chinese government's refusal to allow the USS Kitty Hawk battle group and its crew of 8,000 to make a port call in Hong Kong for Thanksgiving -- as well as China's supposed reversal of the decision on "humanitarian" grounds after the flotilla had already steamed out to sea. We now know the Chinese reversed their decision when they tracked the USS Kitty Hawk's battle group sailing back to Japan through the Taiwan Strait. So much for China's "humanitarian" concerns.

Beijing's foreign minister initially told US President George W. Bush the incident was a "misunderstanding," but his own ministry insisted the following day that there was no such "misunderstanding."

Instead, the Chinese said the decision was in retaliation for the Bush administration's decision to approve a US$1 billion upgrade to Taiwan's missile defense system and Congress' presenting the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal.

This provocative move by Beijing should come as a surprise to no one. After all, the US relationship with China has long been one of "give and take" -- the US gives, and China takes. Each time the US makes an accommodation, Beijing sees only weakness and becomes more aggressive -- which in turn prompts the US State Department to offer yet more concessions.

Since late 2003, the Bush administration has bent over backwards to appease China; President Bush publicly denounced President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) a few years ago on national television while standing shoulder to shoulder with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶).

State Department officials have also refused to allow Chen to transit through continental US en route to Latin America. In August, Bush dispatched US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to parrot the language of China's "Anti-Secession" Law and criticize an upcoming referendum in Taiwan -- on a Chinese television station.

And most recently, the Bush administration inexplicably refused to act on Taiwan's request for F-16s -- despite the fact that the White House has spent the last five years criticizing the Taiwanese government for failing to make sufficient investment in defense.

And for all of this pandering, what has the Bush administration gained?

Half-hearted Chinese cooperation in the "Six Party Talks," Chinese obstruction in the human tragedy unfolding in Sudan, renewed Chinese threats of military action against Taiwan, and now the brazen and public humiliation of the US in barring the USS Kitty Hawk from Hong Kong's harbor.

And China, certainly no help in encouraging transparency in Tehran's nuclear ambitions, is now using the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran as a rationale for pressuring the US, the Europeans and the International Atomic Energy Agency to ease off on demands for access to what is still a very troubling ongoing uranium enrichment program.

Since 1979, when the US recognized China, the US has repeatedly attempted to use Taiwan as a bargaining chip in an effort to establish some kind of quid pro quo with the Chinese.

Aside from the moral shortcomings inherent in this duplicitous policy -- the approach simply hasn't worked -- numerous US "quids" over the years have never produced any meaningful Chinese "quo."

Late last month, for example, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman responded to a question about whether Beijing would support additional UN measures to curb Iranian nuclear enrichment efforts if the US scaled back arms sales to Taiwan. The spokesman responded by saying that China would "never trade its sovereignty or principle" on the matter.

The US relationship with Taiwan isn't the only thing that has suffered as a result of our hopeless policy of appeasement vis-a-vis China.

It highlights a glaring hypocrisy in US foreign policy, undermines our international image, emboldens our enemies and enhances the credibility of our detractors like China.

The Bush administration's practice of trying to limit Taiwan's democratic development and diplomatic space in return for China's illusory "cooperation" on North Korea, Myanmar, Iran or Sudan sends the message that the US is ceding Asia to China's hegemony.

A poll conducted earlier this month found that a plurality of Europeans now believe that China will replace the US as the dominant world power by 2020. Unless the US becomes more forceful in standing up for its principles and asserting its interests, this alarming perception could very likely become a reality.

If the US wants to reverse this dangerous trend it must start by changing its antiquated China policy.

The "one China" road the US started down in the 1970s has failed to resolve the "Taiwan Problem" or yield any tangible benefits for the US.

It is time the US rejected this anachronistic and ineffective policy in favor of a more honest and defensible "two-state solution" that extends full diplomatic recognition to both Taiwan and China.

Such a move would have a number of advantages -- beyond just providing US sailors with a friendly Taiwanese port in which to spend Thanksgiving with their families next year.

Establishing normal diplomatic ties with democratic Taiwan would also remedy a nagging inconsistency in US foreign policy. And -- as dual recognition did with East and West Germany -- might also open the door for an even-handed dialogue between the two sides, providing a real opportunity for Beijing and Taipei to resolve their differences peacefully -- whatever that resolution might be.

Tom Tancredo represents Colorado's 6th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives and is a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

An Israeli Sets the World Straight Regarding Taiwan

Our moral nakedness

By Adar Primor

tags: United Nations

This is a story about a country that (nearly) everyone recognizes de facto and whose existence (again, nearly) everyone denies de jure; a country that is battling a cynical world controlled by a regime of international hypocrisy, where Realpolitik defeats the values of justice and morality.

This country - most people know it as Taiwan, while the Republic of China (ROC) is its official name - has a small request: to join the family of nations. For 14 years now, it has been trying to fight international alienation and has been supplicating at the gates of the United Nations, which rejects it every time with routine nonchalance.....[click here to read the rest of the article].

The Father of Taiwanese Identity

The Father of Taiwanese Identity

November 2007
by Hugo Restall

There are no paparazzi visible on the hillside above Lee Teng-hui’s home in the Shihlin suburb of Taipei, but his aide points out where they stake out the house with their long lenses. While the former president is officially retired—two golf bags stand ready by the carport—he remains a political force to be reckoned with. Expelled from the Kuomintang party he once led, Mr. Lee is now the "spiritual leader" of a small party, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, and he is still jockeying to expand its influence.

Click here to read the full article.

Poisonings in Haiti = result of free flowing Chinese chemicals

Following text is an excerpt from The New York Times INTERNATIONAL / ASIA PACIFIC Edition story Chinese Chemicals Flow Unchecked to Market:

United States officials learned of problems with China’s chemical companies in the mid-1990s while investigating the fatal poisonings in Haiti. Chinese authorities took no action against the uncertified chemical company that made the poison, diethylene glycol, or the giant state-owned trader, Sinochem International Chemicals, that exported it.

A decade later another state-owned trading company, CNSC Fortune Way, exported the diethylene glycol — also from an uncertified chemical company — that ended up in the deadly Panamanian cold medicine in 2006.

Chinese officials have known for years that uncertified chemical companies are producing active pharmaceutical ingredients. In 2004 the Chinese drug authority’s newspaper cited complaints that some licensed companies “affiliate” with unlicensed ones to hide their illegal purchases, while others buy only a token amount from certified suppliers to pass inspection. “The impact of chemical products on the bulk pharmaceutical market hints at a much larger problem: a huge hole in drug safety,” the drug agency publication stated.

Since the Panama poisonings, China is considering ways to corral the chemical industry. At Panama’s request, Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, has pressed the Chinese government to step up regulation of chemical companies selling pharmaceutical ingredients.

American and Chinese health officials held their first high-level meeting in May, and hope to sign a memorandum of agreement in December. “The Chinese have finally come to the realization that their regulatory system needs repair,” said William Steiger, director of international affairs for Mr. Leavitt’s agency. But meaningful change will be difficult. Chinese authorities may not have enough investigators to weed out the many small chemical companies that are making drug ingredients.

And efforts to close the regulatory gap must overcome one particularly thorny issue: some uncertified companies accused of selling counterfeit drugs are owned by the government itself.

To read full story click Chinese Chemicals Flow Unchecked to Market.

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Update on China's Poisoning of the Food Supply

From Poisioning Pets to Poisioning People: Will "China's Rise" Be Our Demise?

Free Zhiwen Wang!

Zhiwen Wang suffers in a Chinese prison because he believes in certain ideas more than in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and he was willing to express that belief to a high ranking member of that Party. As a Falun Gong practitioner he was simply expressing the fundamentals of his ethical/spiritual belief in truth, compassion, and forbearance (tolerance) to those around him. But, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, talking to the wrong person, and for that he is now halfway through a 16 year prison term.

Zhiwen's daughter is unrelenting in her campaign to secure the release of her father and his fellow imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. She will travel the Globe to take advantage of opportunities to bring their unjust imprisonment and the unjust persecution of the masses of Falun Gong practitioners in China to the attention of a seeming apathetic world, as she recently did by traveling to Australia to hold a press conference outside the APEC meetings. She endures persecution from afar, right in her home in Austin, Texas as the CCP follows up her press conferences and other media outreaches with Internet postings (in Chinese) aimed to discredit, defame, and attack her.

The upcoming 2008 "Genocide Olympics" in Beijing could be an opportunity for something to break for Zhiwen Wang and the Falun Gong, but only if the US and European countries are willing to confront the Communist authorities. Will Bush's Compassionate Conservatism translate into a rebuke of his host for such human rights abuses when he attends the Olympics? I wouldn't hold my breath waiting to hear about it. But, Danielle might hold hers.

For Zhiwen, to have a daughter like Danielle, willing to lay down her life and take on the evil of the Chinese Communist Party, indeed of the world system, assured in her heart that through her efforts you will be set free from an unjust imprisonment, now that is success as a father, whether you remain in bonds or are set free.

___________

As a Christian, I feel that when I stand up for the downtrodden and oppressed they see Christ in me. To stand with and express Christ's love to them in this way, even though they may not believe in Christ is something He calls me to do. Please pray for Zhiwen, Danielle, and the Falun Gong of China. Please see the stories linked below to learn more and to know better what to pray for.

Open letter to President Bush

United States: Families Suffering Persecution in Chinese Prisons and Labour Camps for Their Practice of Falun Gong

Falun Gong Hold Out for Bloody Harvest to Stop

Daughter's Attempt to Free Her Father

APEC organisers accredit Falun Gong journalist (Interview--Transcript & Audio)

A Different Father's Day (Photos)

The Epoch Times Unwavering Faith

My name is Danielle Wang, and I am a victim of communist tyranny.

United States: Widespread of the Nine Commentaries, Red Tide Recedes, Chinese Culture Gradually Restored

Falun Gong promotes well-being

Daily Texan: Students rally for release of Chinese prisoner

Falun Gong Practitioners Appeal to Bush Before China Trip

Falun Gong practioners ask President for assistance

Zhiwen Wang, 55, father of Danielle Wang, 22, student at the University of Texas

A Letter from State Representative of Texas to President Bush: End the Campaign of Terror by Jiang's Regime

FALUN GONG IMPRISONMENTS claim UT student's father

The Courage to Stand Up to the Chinese Communist Party

My friend Danielle Wang, a Falun Gong practitioner who lives in Austin, Texas, understands all too well the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), even though China did not make Bush's "Axis of Evil" short list. Her grandfather was murdered by members of the Red Guard when her mom was 14 years old. Her father, Zhiwen Wang, was arrested in 1999 during the initial stages of the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Zhiwen is halfway through a 16 year prison sentence for simply being a Falun Gong practitioner in "the wrong place at the wrong time." There is growing concern that many such prisoners are being murdered in prison through the harvesting of their organs for domestic Chinese use as well as for export to the international organ transplant market.

Danielle, a civil engineer-in-training and US Citizen has been maligned and defamed on the Internet by the Chinese, simply because she wishes to secure her father's release and because she is willing to expose the evil of the CCP in the process. Her courage in standing up to the CCP is gaining the attention of communities of faith. A growing number of Christians are rallying around Danielle, holding her and her father up in prayer.

More about Danielle in a later post.

The story featured in this post is yet another example of how the CCP will not tolerate anyone who dares stand up to them and expose the truth about their continuous abuse of human rights and disregard for human life.

The Courage to Stand Up

Thoughts on Gao Zhisheng's open letter to the U.S. Congress

By Gary Feuerberg Epoch Times Washington, D.C. Staff

Oct 06, 2007

We all saw the man in 1989 stop the tank at Tiananmen Square. Now comes another image which in its own right is just as threatening to the communist rulers of China. On Sept. 12 while under house arrest, Beijing attorney Gao Zhisheng, wielding the power of the pen, writes a 16-page letter addressed to the United States Congress, which lays bare the moral depravity of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Click here to read the full story.

Edward McMillan-Scott (L) Vice President, of the European Parliament, with Democracy Legislator Albert Ho next to a portrait of mainland jailed human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. McMillan-Scott is an outspoken critic of China's abysmal human rights record. (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images)

Related Articles

- A Courageous Advocate Challenges Repression Friday, October 05, 2007

- Groups Support Human Rights Torch Relay and Gao's Release Saturday, September 29, 2007

- Gao Zhisheng's Open Letter to the United States Congress Thursday, September 27, 2007

- Chinese Secret Police Abduct Human Rights Attorney Thursday, September 27, 2007

Taiwanese Sentiment

AP Photo

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Transcript of the Interview With President Chen Shui-bian

Wall Street Journal - Sep 13, 2007

UNLimited Taiwan

I don't care much for the parsing of culture and country that makes folks want to refer to themselves in a hyphenated manner, but when your country is as mistreated as Taiwan is by China and the International community, including the US, I completely understand how love of ones root's and the country of one's residence can result in a hyphenated identity.

To check out the Taiwanese-American community via the web, click this link: http://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/

Taiwanese-Americans certainly are not all Republicans (I think more may be Democrats), but supporting Taiwan against the threats of the Communist regime in Beijing is a Republican value. To that end I commend you to this web site http://www.unfortaiwan.org/ and urge you to sign this petition Support UN Membership for Taiwan.

And to see a video of how Taiwanese-Americans are banding together to bring attention to the seemly hopeless plight of there homeland to get International recognition as a sovereign state (and to her some interesting sounding Taiwanese rap music) watch the YouTube video below:

And in closing, I dare present to you (with a good bit of fear and trepidation) the Heavy Metal band ChthoniC (pronounced "THON-nic") from Taiwan (1st Disclaimer: In general I do not digest, or even really approve of Heavy Metal music). ChthoniC is not hyphenated, unless it be a Taiwan native Aboriginal-Taiwanese hyphenation, and it is totally committed to an Unlimited Taiwan, even though Taiwan is being UN Limited (2nd Disclaimer: As far as I am concerned the UN is a dung heap, but it stings to high heaven that Taiwan would be denied membership in this dung pile simply becasue the pile is thought of as as the de jure independence recognitionon society and China objects to Taiwaneing so recognized).

UNlimited TAIWAN Short Film (Not Music Video)

"Please take advantage of the chambermaid"

As I read the Op-Ed piece introduced below I did so without first noticing who the author was. As I read each line the ideas resonated within me and I was impressed with the caliber of the writing. When I got to the bottom and saw that the author is none other than Ross Terrill, I thought "of course, who else."

I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Terrill here in Austin a couple of years ago in a small gathering of Taiwanese students and professionals to which he introduced his new book about which he graciously fielded questions. I have read his book, The New Chinese Empire: And What it Means for the United States, from cover to cover. The book is a must read for anyone remotely interested in China.

I have found memories of that time with Dr. Terrill.

August 22, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
In Beijing, Orwell Goes to the Olympics
By ROSS TERRILL

Beijing

IN China, language has long been a test of political orthodoxy. In Mao Zedong’s era, to confuse evil “bourgeois” with virtuous “proletarian” was to face a prison cell. Write the Chinese character for a leader’s name at a wrong angle and you were a class enemy. Now, as Beijing begins the final year of its preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games, a mistake with an English word is taboo.

Some lapses are harmless. “Don’t Bother” as a privacy request on a hotel door, for example, or “Chop the Strange Fish” on a restaurant menu. Others could lead to minor trouble. “Please take advantage of the chambermaids,” says a resort brochure.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

China's Poisonous Path

Every day the plot thickens regarding the poisonous path China's products have taken. For background information see the following related blog posts and the stories linked thereto:

From Poisioning Pets to Poisioning People: Will "China's Rise" Be Our Demise? (May 8, 2007)
China Complains of Perported American Invaders (June 14, 2007)
Update on China's Poisoning of the Food Supply (June 21, 2007)
China's Scariest Weapon (July 15, 2007)
China's Latest Scapegoat (July 19, 2007)

Being a communist country, with only an illusion of free market capitalism, it is not unexpected that Chinese apologists are downplaying the problem of poisonous and otherwise dangerous food and products and are trying to get the world to look the other way.

Johin Carey of Peace and Freedom blog posted this the following story about one such apologist:

China's Very Own Reality: Scandals "Politically motivated, unfair, biased and poisoned by jealousy"

By John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom
August 20, 2007

Tainted seafood. Poisoned toothpaste. Cough Syrup that may have killed over 100 in Panama. Even toys with lead-based paint. Why? “Politically motivated, unfair, biased and poisoned by jealousy,” says China’s director of product safety, the Most Honorable Li Changjiang.

Just when you think China will come clean and admit that there were real tangible problems, the running back dodges a tackler and runs toward the goal posts.

China lives on denials, lies, suppression of news and obfuscation.And in this run up to the Beijing Summer Olympics, words from Chinese officials are less reliable than ever.

Have you noticed that all China’s factory workers wear hats or hair nets? You’ll never find a hair painted into a child’s toy from China but the paint might be lead-based, which is poisonous.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, at the height of the seafood problems, China’s “farm-fed” seafood came packed with antibiotics. That’s because they are fed on human excrement. If you soak your Chinese shrimp too long in warm water, the “pink” runs out. It is dye: there to make the seafood look more appealing.

The Chinese answer to all of this, weaving back and forth from near truth to outright ridiculous lies, includes this mystically Chinese answer given on China’s state TV network yesterday: “It’s not a severe winter, but there is a cold wind blowing,” the Most Honorable Li Changjiang said.
“This cold wind has been a big trial for the industry … But I think most of our companies can endure this test. Why do I say this? Because our exports keep going up.”

“More than 99 percent of our goods meet standards,” he added. “Demonizing Chinese products, or talking of the Chinese product threat, I think is simply a new kind of trade protectionism.”
It is all “politically motivated, unfair, biased and poisoned by jealousy.”

Forget O.J. Simpson. There is an entire government above 1.3 billion people that has mastered “spin” better than anyone: China.

On August 5, 2007, deputy head of the State Food and Drug Administration, Hui Lusheng, said, “At present, the food safety situation has improved, yet is still serious.”

“Since last year reports of ‘red-yolk duck eggs’ and so on have often caused wide concern in society about food safety, and warned us that our country is in a period of high risk,” Hui said, referring to a contaminated egg scare.

“Dealing with and preventing food safety risks is a long-term, arduous and complicated project, which needs society to work together and comprehensive prevention,” she added.

So on the one hand we have, “long-term, arduous and complicated.”

On the other hand, from a more senior person and less than a month later, we have, “Politically motivated, unfair, biased and poisoned by jealousy.”

This is today’s communist China. China lives on denials, lies, suppression of news and obfuscation.

Nobody should be fooled.

Related:
China: You Won’t Get The Truth
and
China: At Long Last Admits Food Safety Clean Up Will Be “Arduous,” Long Term

China's Scariest Weapon

A Stark Contrast - Well Trodden Path vs. Good Soil

And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while the whole crowd stood on the shore. He told them many things in parables, saying:
"Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered. Other seeds fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked them. But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. The one who has ears had better listen!”
-Matthew 13:3-9 (the NET © Bible)

In reading today's two published essays by Dr. Jerome Keating (see below) I am reminded of this well known parable Jesus taught his disciples. Throughout the 58 years of the Peoples' Republic of China, any seeds of democracy that are sown seem to fall on the well trodden path and are quickly devoured by the crows of Beijing. In contrast, in Taiwan the seeds of democracy during the same time period have fallen on progressively better soil over time. I don't mean by this to equate democracy with the Gospel of Salvation but rather to use the agrarian truth, from which Jesus draws His parable, to illustrate the stark contrast between the dim prospects for democracy in the PRC and the bright reality of the maturing democracy in Taiwan.

Which begs a question: Where should we sow and where should we cultivate democracy?


Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and the Falun Gong
Monday July 02

July 1, marked the tenth anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China. In Hong Kong, there were celebratory fireworks, a parade, and a public visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao. In contrast, there was also a pro-democracy protest numbering anywhere from 20,000 to 68,000 depending on whether you believe the Hong Kong police or the protest organizers. Ten years had passed and Hong Kong is in no way closer to the democracy and autonomy promised by the People's Republic of China (PRC). A simple bellwether of this lack of progress can be seen in the continued mistreatment of members of the Falun Gong. Several members of the Falun Gong that went to Hong Kong from Taiwan for this day were denied entry and sent back to Taiwan. ...

From the Belly of the Beast: a New Democracy Exhibit Tours Taiwan
Monday July 02

Taiwan continues in its search for a unifying identity, yet one major impediment remains; how to resolve the crimes of its tumultuous past. True, Taiwan has finally and painstakingly achieved its democracy, but the nation has still not dealt with the legacy of the past 45 years of colonial aggression, white terror, and systematic propaganda. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) which profited immensely during those years wants to downplay their damage; the Taiwanese who suffered in that same period seek transitional justice. This conflict creates Taiwan's identity problem. Nowhere perhaps was the contrast of these two positions more evident than in the dual exhibitions that recently were seen side by side in the former Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (now Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall). One of those exhibits now tours Taiwan...

China Complains of Purported American Invaders

Hundreds, perhaps thousand, of uninvited guests (shall we call them illegal immigrants?) from the US have stowed away in agricultural containers shipped to China. Will the Chinese deport them, grant them amnesty, or perhaps execute them?

Details to follow.

(I continue, 27 hrs later)

Who are these immigrants?.............They're ANTS!

Yes, those critters portrayed in Antz, the 1998 animated film by DreamWorks SKG.

Antz re-contextualizes the 'search for individuality' theme into, of all places, an ant colony, where its members' societal roles are rigidly determined at birth, wrote one reviewer.

Apparently Z, who was bemoaning his feelings of insignificance as a middle-child in a 'family of five million', when he first appeared on the big screen, has fallen for all the hype about Chinatopia (the fabled land of great expectations) and has, along with a substantial following, hitched a ride in some crates of pistachios destined for China.

What happened when some of the crates were unloaded is a bit disturbing (from Z's perspective). It seems that the Chinese did not find the presence of Z and his fellow ants a good omen. They declared the entire shipment of pistachios ruined by the presence of the invaders. It essence they declared the presence of ants in the pistachio shipment a grave violation of China's strict food safety standards.

I'm afraid to report that Z could likely be dead, along with many if not all of his fellow travelers. There was no place to hide from the Chinese border control officials. Sanitary workers donning face masks, reportedly did the deed. They destroyed part of the offloaded crates and deported the unloaded ones back to the US, according to this report on the NASDAQ web site:

China Central Television said the ants found in the pistachio shipment could "cause a serious threat to trees and to the ecological environment." Part of the batch, which arrived by ship to the port of Zhongshan, will be destroyed and the rest will be returned, CCTV said, without giving any other details.

Some reports indicate that the ants may in fact be termites, which would mean, thank heaven, that it was not Z at all, but the enemy termites, that bit the dust.

The truth of the matter is that the Chinese, smarting from accusations of exporting to the West poison drug and food products for pets and people are itching to take a retalitory strike against the trade partners levying the accusations, if for no other reason than to save face (one of the sacred rituals of East Asia). "Whatever the motives are for this, if it's real, we want to know about it," said David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food protection at the FDA."

But WAIT. I think Z got his destination all mixed up. Chinatopia is a Chinese restaurant in South Florida.

IT'S ALL A BIG MISTAKE!

Related Stories

Chinese import crackdown follows nut seizure

Pistachios imported from US infested with ants

Colgate Warns of Fake Toothpaste in U.S.

China on offensive, rejects U.S. products for failing sanitary standards

FDA Recalls Toxic Toothpaste in Four U.S.

Tainted import controversy hits close to home

China: A cheap imitation

Published on Taipei Times
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/05/15/

Letter: China: A cheap imitation

Tuesday, May 15, 2007, Page 8

If it weren't so tragic, it might even be funny. Not truly understanding or appreciating the subtleties of such concepts as fairness, law, justice, freedom or human rights, copyright or patent, religion or dissent, the Chinese government has designed a system bereft of independent control, and a society which lacks all self-discipline and, most importantly, any moral compass.

One result is rampant illegal copying of everything -- copying as in "imitating," and copying as in "stealing" -- and in many instances, even official government piracy.

All that widespread theft wouldn't be so alarming if there was some notion of redress in China, but there is virtually no justice that can be relied on anyway. Without an independent judiciary, the Chinese court system is merely an extension of the government, which is completely corrupt and focuses solely on perpetuating its iron grip on power. As a result, doing business in China involves as much dumb luck as anything and the ability to write off almost any amount as a loss.

At some point, a company will likely be expected (under duress, which in any other situation would constitute blackmail) to make a deal (which under any other circumstances would be unacceptable) just to be allowed to continue to have access to the capitalist's dream many believe China to be.

Just ask the Yahoos, Microsofts, Googles of this world ... and most recently, Disney.

In Beijing, the Shijingshan Amusement Park, owned by the government of Beijing's district of Shijingshan, is nothing more than a cheap and virtually complete copy of Disney, right down to the castle and characters, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Cinderella.

What is truly jaw-dropping is that the park is government run -- an overt instance of official Chinese piracy. Even more alarming is that it is done with a straight-faced denial that the park is a copy. Watching a park official try to explain why the Cinderella look-alike is different would be funny if it weren't an official government lie. The normally stridently protective Disney has kept a low profile, aside from its usual statement of its commitment to protecting its valuable intellectual property. Perhaps courting the next Chinese Disneyland requires looking the other way when Cinderella Hu skips by with Mickey Lao Shu.

But so it goes in China, where lies about freedom of the press and human rights are given almost daily with a straight face, and where the government actually insists, with conviction, that the Internet is free, that human rights and press freedoms are universal, that there is a won ton in every pot.

China also insists that its emergence constitutes a "peaceful rise." Except for Taiwan. And Tibet. And Xinjiang. And possibly Japan. And South Korea. And any country that indicates the slightest support for any of the aforementioned. Or anyone else who "interferes with China's internal affairs."

China is the paradigmatic example of "you get what you pay for," whether it is tainted salt, tainted gluten, tainted pork, tainted Disney, or tainted human rights. China is the great supplier of mediocrity, not just because it has not learned how to achieve high quality yet, but because it does not even recognize quality -- or, apparently, the truth.

But Disney, Yahoo, Google, the UN, the EU, Australia, Canada and the US, the business organizations and sweaty-palmed businesspeople, and a host of other sycophantic lapdogs awaiting the next market opportunity, will all yield to Beijing's never-ending blackmail for another shot at the pot of gold at the end of the Beijing rainbow.

They will all smile at President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the Dalai Lama, but these purported "champions of freedom" will all look the other way when they and their people are all stabbed through the heart.

Whether it's a patent right, copyright, human right, or the right thing, it's all lost in translation for the People's Republic of China -- in other words, picture without sound, photograph without color, heart without soul.

And unless we are very careful, we will wake up one day to find out that this was what Beijing had been peddling all this time -- a world of mediocrity, a cheap knockoff -- life with communist "Chinese characteristics."

No thanks. I'll just have the real thing, Taiwanese style, with extra freedom. And hold the totalitarianism.

Lee Longhwa

United States

See also this related commentary: China: Culture of Corruption a Problem

Taiwan, China, and the Olympics Part II: More Half-baked Journalism

Part II of the Keating article posted April 29, 2007. This one contains a concise history of Taiwan for everyone's information:

Taiwan, China, and the Olympics Part II: More Half-baked Journalism

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

As China seeks to use the Olympic torch route to bolster its claim to possess and rule Taiwan, another typical one-sided, hackneyed phrase used by journalists appears. It joins the list of stock phrases that journalists are either ordered to use by their syndicates or are too lazy to seek the full detailed explanations behind them. Some past phrases are "Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province." (Journalists never print what Taiwan considers China.) Or there is the old chestnut, "Taiwan, which has always been a part of China." (Hello, do you ever read history?). The current phrase (while not entirely new) states that "Taiwan and China have been ruled by separate governments since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949." This implies that Taiwan was always ruled by one and only one form of government before. It is time to clarify this half truth and set the record straight.

Taiwan has always been ruled by numerous separate governments throughout its history. From Taiwan's side of the Strait, here is a brief history of who has ruled Taiwan.

Before 1624, Taiwan was ruled by a variety of aboriginal tribes, each guarding their own territory and fighting with those on their borders. Other countries may have tried to claim Taiwan but having the island on one's maps, does not mean they ruled here.

From , small parts of Taiwan were ruled by the Dutch and the Spanish; the majority of Taiwan was still ruled by aboriginal tribes.

From , parts of Taiwan were controlled by the Ming loyalist Koxinga, Zheng Cheng-gong and his followers; the majority of Taiwan still was under control by the aborigines.

From 1681 to 1895, half of Taiwan was loosely controlled by the Manchu Qing government; the remaining half of Taiwan was still ruled by the aborigines. The French briefly controlled a small portion in 1885, but quickly left.

From 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was ruled by Japan following the Treaty of Shimonoseki. This was the first time all of Taiwan was controlled and ruled by any nation. The aborigines no longer controlled any part of the island.

In 1945, at the end of World War II Taiwan was turned over in trusteeship to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of the Republic of China by the United States. Taiwan's status was not spelled out. The KMT under Chiang Kai-shek would control Taiwan by martial law and a police state until 1988.

In 1949, the Republic of China (ROC) under Chiang Kai-shek lost the civil war in China and his forces retreated to Taiwan taking advantage of the police state they held there. The People's Republic of China (PRC) was born and ruled China but not Taiwan; it has never ruled any part of Taiwan.

In 1952, the Treaty of San Francisco did not clarify matters. It stated that Japan must give up Taiwan but it did not say to whom. By the United Nations Charter, the people of Taiwan should have been given the choice of self-determination; they were not. The KMT's Republic of China, now on Taiwan, continued its martial law and police state.

In 1972 the United States muddied the waters and added to the ambiguity by introducing the innocuous phrase "one China" in the Shanghai Communiqué. By this it admitted that the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China each had their own interpretation of what was "one China." But it did not state what the USA's interpretation was, nor did it endorse either the PRC or the ROC position. The people of Taiwan were not consulted. (Those that want a more detailed explanation of this can consult my posting of August 10, 2006, "Taiwan, Lazy Journalists, and Unfinished Phrases").

At the end of 1991, all of the surviving members of the Republic of China's Legislative Yuan who had been elected in China in 1947 and had never had to face election again were forced to retire. The people of Taiwan now for the first time had the right to elect all members of the Legislative Yuan.

In 1996 the first ever election of the President of Taiwan by popular vote was held. Taiwan was no longer under the one party KMT state. It was completely ruled by the vote of the people. For the first time, the new separate government was that of the people of Taiwan. On the other side of the Strait in China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) still ruled.

This brings us to the present and the half truth of journalists. Have China and Taiwan been ruled by separate governments since the end of the civil war? Taiwan has always been ruled by many separate governments from 1624 on. After 1949, Taiwan was first controlled by the KMT's one-party state; now it is ruled by its people in a democracy. China has been ruled by the same CCP since 1949.

The ambiguous status of democratic Taiwan from the Treaty of San Francisco remains ambiguous.

Other writings can be found at http://zen.sandiego.edu:8080/Jerome.

John Tkacik on China--Taiwan--US; "China Alarms Ringing"

Like I did regarding Dr. Jerome Keating two weeks ago I wish to now introduce Travis Monitor Blog visitors to John J. Tkacik.

John J. Tkacik is senior fellow in Asian studies at the Heritage Foundation and was chief of China analysis in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research from.

John Tkacik is a great American and good friend to Taiwan. More often than not I find that I agree 110% with his assessment of the tender box that defines the triangular relationship China--Taiwan--US. He is a conservative voice who has the interest of freedom loving people in mind every time he communicates on the subject.

I commend you to his recently published book, which I purchased from Amazon.com and gifted to Congressman Michael McCaul and Senator John Cornyn:

Reshaping the Taiwan Strait

John J. Tkacik, Jr.
Sold by: Amazon.com
Paperback; $9.50

Here is Mr. Tracik's recently published Washington Times article on China:

China Alarms Ringing
By John J. Tkacik
Published May 10, 2007
Washington Times

Fifteen years ago, the U.S. intelligence community judged that the People's Liberation Army of China was more than 20 years behind the West. In January, the PLA brought down a satellite with an ultra-sophisticated "kinetic kill vehicle" weapon. Today, no one views China's nuclear or missile capabilities as anything other than cutting-edge.

In the last five years, China has brought 20 state-of-the-art, super-quiet, diesel-electric submarines on line, increasing its fleet of modern subs to 55. Now there is speculation the Chinese are developing Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cells that allow their subs to stay submerged far longer and eliminate any detectable mechanical noise. This would explain how a Chinese submarine was able to surprise the USS Kitty Hawk battle group last October by popping up in its midst and immediately disappearing without a trace. Apparently, the U.S. Navy can't track China's newest submarines.

U.S. intelligence predicted none of this. Last year, Assistant Defense Secretary Peter Rodman admitted, "We are caught by surprise by the appearance of new systems that suddenly appear fully developed." Former Clinton administration defense expert Kurt Campbell has noted, "You look back on those studies, and it's only been a decade, China has exceeded in every area military modernization that even the far-off estimates of the mid-1990s predicted."

With the Soviet Union's collapse in 1992, America cut its defense budget by more than 10 percent during the Clinton years while China boosted arms spending by 10 percent to 20 percent every year since 1992.

The Central Intelligence Agency calculates Beijing now spends 4.3 percent of its gross domestic product on the military. China's military sectors will get about $430 billion -- in purchasing power parity terms -- this year.

Even observers who remain generally complacent about China's military build-up admit "alarm" at China's recent anti-satellite test and its mischief in Darfur. But China's behavior toward Taiwan should sound the alarm bells just as loudly.

Yet, when the debate turns to Taiwan, some urge the U.S. to "chill." We must not be too eager to defend Taiwan, they argue, because the "legitimacy" of the mainland Communist Party would be "severely undermined" if the international community questioned its claim to the island.

But is supporting the Chinese "Communist Party's legitimacy" in America's interests? Must we stand by while the world's largest dictatorship bullies Asia's most vibrant democracy into a relationship Taiwan's people have consistently rejected? Must Taiwan's democracy be stifled in the interests of "peace" in the Asia Pacific region?

Henry Kissinger once noted an international system for which peace is the highest priority is "at the mercy of the most ruthless, since there [is] a maximum incentive to mollify the most aggressive state and to accept its demands, even when they [are] unreasonable." The inevitable result: "massive instability and insecurity." Western democracies learned this lesson the hard way in 1938 Munich and in 1990 Baghdad.

Humoring threats from dictatorships invariably results in catastrophic miscalculations. And Taiwan is not Beijing's only illicit territorial claim.

Last November, the Chinese ambassador in New Delhi informed a surprised Indian television audience that "the whole of what you call the state of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory." This February, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said "China will not accept any representations by Japan on the premise of territorial claim" over the Senkaku Islands. No Chinese live in Arunachal Pradesh, and Japan has administered the Senkakus for 112 years.

All Asia is watching to see if the U.S. is committed to President Bush's vision of "the global expansion of democracy." If Washington won't stand up for democracy in Taiwan, where would it? And how would Beijing know Washington was serious?

No responsible person wants war in the Taiwan Strait. But the best way to avoid war, to keep our legal commitment to defend Taiwan's democracy and to maintain Asia's stability is to demonstrate steadfast resolve against Beijing's territorial demands.

The United States may no longer be strong enough to defend freedom beyond our shores. The "global expansion of democracy" may not be feasible as we face a Chinese Superpower intent on legitimizing illiberal forces lurking in the shadows of Asia's fragile new democracies. If so, Washington should admit it, so our allies and friends can start making other plans for their security.